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Erik Bedard (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

Canadian left-hander Erik Bedard of Navan, Ontario, has been traded to the Boston Red Sox.

Just a day after the Red Sox acquired fellow Canadian Rich Harden of Victoria, British Columbia from the Oakland Athletics but changed their mind because they didn’t like Harden’s medical report, they acquired Bedard from the Seattle Mariners for outfield prospects Trayvon Robinson and Chih-Hsein Chiang.

Bedard, who has had a history of shoulder trouble, was 4-7 with 87 strikeouts and a 3.45 earned run average for the Mariners in 2011.  His best years in the Majors came with Baltimore in 2006 and 2007, where he had a combined total of 28 wins over those two years. The 4-7 record this season is deceiving because the Mariners provide so little offense each time they take to the field.

In Boston, Bedard will replace the injured Clay Buchholz in the starting rotation for the time being, but don’t be surprised if there is room for him in the rotation when Buchholz gets back, because when healthy, Bedard has been better than Tim Wakefield and John Lackey this season.

In other significant moves over the last two days, the Seattle Mariners also traded starting pitcher Doug Fister and setup man David Pauley to the Detroit Tigers for outfielder Casper Wells, pitcher Charlie Furbush, prospect Francisco Martinez and a player to be named later.

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